Littlewood's Big Adventure
by Slenderbrine
Summary: Martyn Littlewood never really knew what he wanted to do with his life. Not until he visited a small, dinged up stall on Apprenticeship Day. Now, he's gone from an average, video game player, to a survivalist, adventurer that finds corruption around every corner. Join Martyn as he fights monsters and discovers the sins of his city. (Random updates)
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Time to Choose**

Tomorrow was Apprenticeship Day, and Martyn could most certainly wait, unlike his classmates. He stared out the window, bored of the chatter going on around him.

Big Oak City was the biggest city in Minecraftia, with over a century of no-monster protection. It had buildings that went up to 258 blocks, ships that could easily carry over 3,000 people, and an army unlike any other. It was the metropolis of the world, with an anormous 300-block oak tree at its center. In order to keep up the workforce, senior students of high schools in Big Oak City would go on year-long apprenticeships. If the apprentice liked it, he would go on to apply for that job. If not, he would do an apprenticeship for another job.

Some people found their job immediately, some people never found it. Martyn expected himself to be the latter kind. He had heard of people once roaming the world, living off the world, fighting monsters and doing things themselves. But, if that was true, it wasn't anymore. The world depended on electricity, automatic tools, protection from others. That was the world he lived in now.

"What are you gonna go for, Martyn?" a voice asked, as Martyn felt an elbow jab into his side. He turned to look at Simon. The kid was easily excitable, as well as a bit on the short side. Everyone knew he was going to be a miner, so there was now point in asking him back.

"I dunno," Martyn sighed. "Maybe a farmer? Probably something with trees." Martyn loved trees; he would spend at least an hour a day just reading while leaning on the Big Oak.

Simon smiled and was about to say something before getting pulled away by Lewis and Hannah. He was the popular kid, so Martyn let him go. It wasn't like Martyn was going to be much conversation.

Martyn sighed and looked out the window again. _'Some excitement would be appreciated,'_ he thought, bored.

|•—/\—•|

"Martyn!"

The blonde stopped walking and turned. Two other kids with glasses were running to catch up to him, so he stopped and waited. The first boy to catch up to him was Dan. His blue eyes were closed and his curly black hair was drenched in sweat. "Notch...damn it...Martyn..."the boy panted out. "How...are you...so...fast?"

While Dan caught his breath and wiped his glasses, Toby caught up. His straight brown hair was not soaked and brown eyes shonewith amusement. "We're not fast," Toby said. "You're just slow."

Dan halfheartedly punched Toby's arm, and Martyn chuckled at his friends' antics. They were a strange trio, alright. A blonde who always wore a light green t-shirt, a brunette that never went anywhere without his hoodie, and a nerd that wore glasses that he actually didn't need. Friends bonded by gaming, they never separated unless necessary.

And that's why Martyn enjoyed their company so much.

"So, what apprenticeship are you guys going for?" Dan asked. They had resumed walk the dirt path back to their homes. "I was thinking about going for the research department. Maybe get my family some more money," he said hopefully.

"I was thinking about joining the remote arms force," Toby said. "Put my gaming skills to something more helpful." Toby looked over to the quietest friend. "What say you, Martyn?"

Said teenager sighed. "I dunno," Martyn said. "Probably something with plants."

Toby sighed and picked up Martyn. The plant-lover let out a cry and started struggling. "C'mon Martyn, don't be so down in the dumps!" Toby chided, ignoring the feet kicking his shins. "Today's our last day together! Let's enjoy it!"

"With video games?" Martyn asked, going limp in his stronger friend's arms.

"Of course with video games, Martyn!" Dan said. "You expected otherwise?"

Toby dropped Martyn, and they started walking back to their homes, chatting up a storm. Finally, they came to the corner. From here, there were three ways to go; one for each of them. Martyn said goodbye to Dan and Toby, and began his lonely walk home.

|•—/\—•|

"Mum! I'm home!" Martyn called out. His house answered no reply, only a present silence. Mar yen sighed, figuring his mom was still at work. His mom was a nurse at the hospital, and sometimes she would be back before Martyn. Only sometimes, though.

His dad, on the other hand was one of the generals in the Big Oak army. He should be proud of that, shouldn't he? But no, because every other day, it was 'Oh, Martyn stop wasting your time with games and go outside!' or 'Why wouldn't you want to be in the army, son!' It would sometimes get to the point where he started blabbing that his 'obssession' with trees was unhealthy and he should try burning one down.

Martyn shivered. Burning down a tree...that was torture for him. Martyn shook off the shivers and hurried up to his room. He threw his backpack on his bed and gave his little bonsai tree a sprinkle of water. Then he turned on his computer and loaded up Blockbreak. It was an online version of Minecraftia, a survival world that could also be so much more. He logged onto the server he and his friends played on.

 **inthelittlewood has joined the game**

 **Forsinain42: Hey dude!**

 **SoTotallyToby: JSJDHFHGOVMC**

 **SoTotallyToby has exploded by Creeper**

 **inthelittlewood: lol**

Martyn smiled, looking at the computer screen. Blockbreak was the online replica of the world outside of Big Oak City. _'Maybe that's what I'll do tomorrow,'_ Martyn thought idly, resuming to play. _'I'll become an adventurer.'_

Martyn shook his head and pulled his chair closer to the screen. _'Adventurer? Like there's an apprenticeship for that.'_

 **inthelittlewood has set his gamemode to Creative**

 **Forsinain42: Martyn! Are you making another forest?**

Martyn paused with bonemeal in his hand to type.

 **inthelittlewood: ...no?**

 **Forsinain42: I'm burning it down!**

 **inthelittlewood: I SWEAR DAN**

 **Forsinain42: BWAHAHAHAH**

 **Forsinain42 was slain by inthelittlewood using** _ **[His Mighty Dildo]**_

 **SoTotallyToby: Pwned RIP**

Martyn smiled. He was going to miss this. Just the casual games of friends. But they would all see each other again in a year, but would they be the same people?

|•—/\—•|

"So, m'boy, are you excited for Apprenticeship Day?" General Kyran Littlewood asked his son.

"Oh, Alex, are you pressuring Martyn again?" Marilyn Littlewood admonished, passing the mash potatoes to the son in question.

"No, it's fine mum," Martyn assured her. "As for what apprenticeship I'll be doing..." Martyn shrugged his shoulders. "...probably something with plants."

Kyran gave a slow chuckle. "Well, whatever it is, I hope it gives you a bit of muscle!" he shouted, slapping Martyn hard on the back. Martyn was lean enough, but his dad's idea of 'muscular' was being like his buffoon-brained cadets; big, bulging muscles and no brain whatsoever.

"Use your inside voice, dearie," Marilyn said, calming her husband down. She always had that effect on him, even when he was a wounded soldier and she was a war nurse. Or so she told Martyn.

"Ah, yes, of course," he agreed. "So what are your friends doing, Marty?"

Martyn, angrily bristling at the horrid nickname, said, "Toby said he wanted to join the remote arms forces–"

"The Drones Corps?" Kyran asked intrigued. "That's a tough section to get into. But if your friend is as good at playing video games as you say he is, it should be a bit easier for him to get in."

Martyn nodded, thankful for his dad's confidence in his friend. When it came to the army, his dad was almost never wrong. Almost.

"–and Dan said he wanted to become a part of the Big Oak IT Department," Martyn finished.

Marilyn looked a bit solemn at the mention of Dan. "Isn't Dan from the Cubed family?" she asked with a sad frown. He nodded and she sighed. "I've talked with his mother a bit. They're such a nice family...they don't deserve to be in debt," Marilyn said.

She was right. Dan's mother was a sweet lady and his grandfather was a war hero. If it hadn't been for Dan's _father_ walking out on them, they wouldn't be as they were now. "You wouldn't leave us, right dad?" he asked his father.

Kyran's eyes widened. "Of course not!" he declared. "We may have a few differences, but we are family! And I'll be damned if anything tries to change that!"

Martyn smiled and hugged his dad, Kyran squeezing his son in return. Marilyn smiled at the sight of her boys. "Come on now, you two," she said as they broke apart. "This is our last meal together as a family."

"Alright, then," Kyran said. "Then would you please pass the macaroni?" Martyn gave a smile as he passed his dad the food. He was going to miss this.

|•—/\—•|

Martyn stood alone, gazing upon the stalls. There were representatives from every possible apprenticeship in Big Oak City. There were hundreds of rows, with roughly twenty representatives each. This would take a while.

Martyn hefted his sack of belongings and walked down a random row. Apprenticeships for Farmers, Technicians, Politicians, Sewer management, the list went on. Martyn would reach the end of a row, then rinse and repeat for another row. He took note of the Farmer stall and the Education stall. Maybe being a teacher wouldn't be that bad.

Martyn, after three hours of exploration, sat down and took a drink. The rows were now only long, but also full of people. He had to be a bit rude at times and push his way through, at times. He must have seen over two hundred stalls at this point and none of them really appealed to him. He did notice a Cult stall, but he just steered clear of that.

While taking another sip of water, a certain stall caught his eye. He was close to the very right of the stalls, where there were less people. Martyn looked at a certain stall that was slightly run down. It had a bit of dirt in places, but that didn't see to affect the representative. Speaking of him, the person tending the stall was very tall. He was wearing a blue t-shirt and blue jeans. His skin was extremely tanned and his blue eyes were scanning the crowds away from him.

Martyn read the sign it had. _**Adventuring Apprenticeship**_ , it read. _'Adeventuring?'_ Martyn thought. There was a strange bubbling inside him. _'Well, I don't have anything else I_ really _want to do. So why not?'_

Martyn stood up and walked over to the stall. "Hello," Martyn said, catching the attention of the stall manager. "I'd like to sign up."

The stall man looked him over. Martyn felt awkward, like he was being analyzed under a microscope. "So you wanna be an adventurer?" he asked. His voice was rough and deep, like he had been yelling a lot.

"Yep," answered Martyn. The stall man made a _hmph_ sound and took out a sheet of paper on a clipboard. He handed that and a pen to Martyn. "Just fill this out and you're good," he said. Martyn nodded, and walked back to the curb he was sitting at.

While he was filling out the form, he noticed another girl and guy walk up to the sign. They seemed to be friends, as they were standing rather close to one another. They exchanged some words with the man at the tall, and they were both handed separate forms.

Martyn glanced back down at the form. He signed all of it except for...

 _ **I, X_, completely place my full trust in Steve Craftsman. I hold this man to no responsibility if I starve, break a bone, lose a limb, die, or otherwise. I have read the Rules & Regulations and understand them. And I will never go against what Steve says or tells me to do.**_

 _'Starve? Die? What am I getting into?'_ Martyn thought worriedly. But still, there was that feeling in his gut. Possibly regretting his decision, Martyn signed the contract. He got up and walked back to who he assumed was Steve Craftsman.

"Here you go, Mr. Craftsman," Martyn said, holding out the paper. Steve chuckled and took the contract. "Please, I'm gonna be your mentor, not your teacher. Call me Steve. Besides," Steve said, "Mr. Craftsman makes me sound old."

Martyn couldn't help but give his own laugh at that.

"Go and walk around for the next hour or two. Come back in three hours. That's when we pack up and leave," Steve said. Martyn nodded and turned around, noticing the boy and girl staring at their contracts.

|•—/\—•|

Martyn stretched his arms as he walked back to Steve's stall. This was going to be his first day as an adventurer! He was more than a bit excited at this point. When he got back to Steve's stall, he noticed the guy and girl were there.

"Great!" the gruff man said. "We're all here!"

Steve gestured between Martyn and the pair. "Martyn, meet Tucker and Sonja. Tucker and Sonja, meet Martyn." The three nodded in respect to each other.

"Now that we're all acquainted," Steve said, "let's get this show on the road!"

 **(A/N): One of two stories with plot I'd like to try out.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Time to Sleep**

They had arrived at the North Gates.

The Gates were four sets of enormous doors, one for each cardinal direction. The walls that protected Big Oak City were just as large, and both things were effective against mobs. They weren't very decorated, from the inside. They were just enormous slabs of iron that protected the city.

Big Oak City.

Martyn looked back at the city he had lived in for 16 years. Now he was going to spend a full year of his life outside the city. That suddenly seemed like a long time, to him.

"Martyn!" Steve called out. The other three had already walked up to the doors. "Let's go!"

Martyn nodded and jogged back up to his mentor and his new mates. Sonja was a girl only a few inches shorter than him, putting her at roughy 5'6". She had bright green eyes and brown hair that reached waist, if it wasn't tucked into her fox-designed hoodie. She wore blue jeans like Martyn and leaned close in to Tucker.

Tucker was as tall as Martyn, a good 5'9". He had black, scraggly hair and hard, blue eyes. Again, he wore blue jeans, but his shirt was black with a blue and white jacket over it. He also had a hat with a bright green 'T' on it, probably a gift.

Steve nodded, seeing them assembled. "Alright," he said, turning back to the doors. He took a deep breath and yelled, "ALEX! WE'RE HEADING OUT! OPEN THE DAMN GATES!"

Martyn heard some yelling up at the top at the wall, and the Gates began to open. Well, kinda. They opened a gap roughly 5 blocks wide. "Let's go," Steve said, and Martyn took his first step into the outside world. The first thing he noticed was the rocks.

Rocks everywhere. Barely any dirt in sight, and no vegetation whatsoever. There were small fires in places and charred corpses of what seemed to be once monsters. Steve scowled, not at the sight of the landscape, but the corpse.

"Damn mods..." he muttered. Tucker and Sonja gave no indication of hearing what he said, but Martyn did. "Steve?" he asked as they trekked the wastelands. The sun was slowly setting to their left. "What are mods?"

He sighed and hefted his backpack. "I'll tell you once we make it to the safe house," Steve replied. "Let's just try and make it before dark."

Steve picked up pace, his trainees doing as well. After roughly an hour of walking, water breaks, and some complaining from Sonja, they finally arrived at a large lodge. It was two stories large, with stone walls and a wood frame. Steve has them line up in front of the door, which was made of metal. To the right of it was a button that matched the color of the wall it was on.

"When I say 'Go', I want you to press the button. When you do, the door will open for a short amount of time. Get in and don't let it close on you. Go!" Steve instructed.

Tucker pressed the button and the door immediately swung open. Tucker hurried inside and the door swung closed a few seconds later, with a loud _CLANG_.

"Now you, Sonja," he told the green-eyed girl. "Go!"

Sonja pressed the door button and hesitated a moment before rushing in. That hesitation cost her, and the door swung shut and closed on her jacket. "Um..." she trailed off.

Steve sighed and pressed the button again, allowing Sonja to pull her jacket in. "Ready, Martyn?" Steve asked his tree-loving student. He found out about the tree thing when Martyn hugged the first tree he saw when coming out of the wastelands.

Martyn nodded and pressed the button. He didn't run, but rather walked in speedily, and managed to get inside without any problems. Lastly, Steve pushed the button and walked in.

"Great," he said. "Now, living quarters. We are only staying here for a few nights, so you won't get much. Upstairs, there are four beds, each with a chest. Pick one out and that'll be your bed for the time we're here. And make sure to sleep in the bed, not on the floor or something.

"Any questions?" he asked.

"Where's the bathroom?" Sonja asked.

Steve pointed to the metal door.

"I'll...I'll hold it," she said.

"Good. I'll explain more in the morning!" he concluded. He started walking towards another room, presumably his, before deciding against it, apparently. He turned directions and walked over to the windows and closed the blinds. "Oh, yeah," Steve said. "No matter what happens, do **NOT** leave the house tonight, or look outside. Understood?"

We all nodded hurriedly. I could practically _see_ the bold  & underline of that "NOT".

"Great!" Steve said happily, in his usual gruff way. "Get some sleep! We leave in the morning!"

He trotted off to another part of the lodge, probably his own bed. We all just stood there for a while, staring at anything we could: the house, each other, absolutely anything. Finally, Sonja broke the silence.

"So...let's get ready for bed?" she offered.

^\\_/[•~•]\\_/^

Only two of the four beds were currently being used that night. Sonja and Tucker decided to sleep together in a bed, leaving me to my own devices. I stared at the wooden ceiling, listening to the heavy snores of Steve and Tucker, thinking over my life choices.

Everything had happened so fast, too fast for me. I went from unsure kid, who wanted to be a ranger, to apprentice adventurer, traveling beyond the walls into the outside world. No one ever talked about Minecraftia outside the walls very much, almost to the point where it was taboo. No one knew, other than there were a few monsters that could be spotted in the distance. This was new to me.

 _'I'd better get some rest,'_ I thought. _'Big day tomorrow.'_

At last, I closed my eyes, at let exhaust over take me.

 _Knock knock._

My eyes flew open and I sat up. Sonja and Tucker will still sleeping, and I could hear Steve's snoring from upstairs (he was quite loud). I looked around for the source of the noise.

 _Knock ting knock._

My head swiveled to the window, its blinds spdrawn shut. Narrowing my eyes, I stood up, silently wincing at the not-so-quiet creaking of he floorboards. I carefully tiptoed over to the window, waiting for one more sign.

 _Knock–_

I pulled up the blinds and recoiled.

There, standing just an inch above eye-level, was a zombie. Similar to one in Blockbreak, but in horrifyingly sharper quality. Its skin was a bright rotting green, with dead, black muscle showing beneath what was peeling off. It had no hair or ears, but two bloodshot red eyes staring back at me. It was wearing a dark blue t-shirt that was ripped in places, and an aviator jacket in surprisingly good condition. Its jeans were torn to the point of being shorts, and it lacked shoes or socks. The zombie and I stared at each other for a few seconds. **"Augh,"** the zombie moaned out.

"AAAAH!" I shouted, falling back on my ass.

I heard a flurry of bodies behind me, and turned around. Sonja was sitting up, sleepily glaring at me, while Tucker was groaning on the floor. "Go to sleep," Sonja demanded.

I pointed towards the window.

Sonja saw the zombie.

 **"Beugh,"** the zombie greeted.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEK!" Sonja screeched. I shoved my hands over my ears. Notch above, that girl could screech!

"What's going on out here!?" Steve yelled. I look towards him, just noticing his presence. _'How long had he been there?'_ I wondered. Evidently, not long, judging by how he didn't immediately notice the zombie. Steve's cold blue eyes scanned the room, until finally – _finally_ – noticing the window and the undead creature.

"Oh," Steve said, letting a sigh of relief escape from his mouth, like a gas leaking out of a balloon, "I thought it was something serious." He walked over to the blinds and closed them before I swiftly turning back to us.

His relaxed posture quickly went ramrod straight as he glared at us. "I thought I told you three not to look outside!" he projected. "Who did it?" Tucker and Sonja immediately pointed at me, the kid with his ass on the floor. _'Traitors,'_ I thought. I spared them a glare and focused on the unhappy Steve in front of me.

"I couldn't sl-l-leep. I-I-I heard sounds coming from outside, and decided to ch-ch-check them out," I managed to stammer out. Steve glared at me for a few more seconds before loosening his posture a second time.

"Alright," he said, staring at the floor. "Can't blame you for being curious." Steve looked at the zombie, and then back to us. "I'll explain everything in the morning, alright? Now, get some sleep. Or at least, some rest." Steve commanded.

We nodded and Steve left us. Without looking at each other, Tucker & Sonja crawled into their bed and I crawled into mine. "G'nite," I called out softly, only to be met with silence.

I didn't fall asleep immediately. I stared at the wooden ceiling, and occasionally glancing towards the window, where I knew a zombie was about behind the blinds. For the first time, but what would not be the last, I wondered a phrase that would repeated many times forward:

 _'Maybe this was a bad idea.'_


End file.
